The right to own. Knowledge management in 13th century Yuan-China

Organised by

• Department of History

Historical research highlights three major points about the nature of silk production and ownership during the Yuan era: firstly, the imperial state stood centre stage; secondly, laws addressed crafts people’s "access to"— not "ownership of"— their craft "work"—and not their "knowledge" thereof; and thirdly, clerks as managers mediated between craftspeople and the state. By the thirteenth century Chinese scholars tried to manipulate knowledge ownership with the help of a scholarly practice called rectifying names . They failed, yet their enforcement of this practice had lasting effects, as up until today historians hold up the myth that scholars held power over craftsmen in China at all times. One reason for this is, as I will elaborate in this lecture a still rather parochial "European" approach to the role of law or other normative practices in historical knowledge cultures. I will introduce the concept of the "kn/own/able" as a key heuristic for global research on historical and contemporary cultures of knowledge ownership. 

Please register in order to get a seat or the ZOOM link.

Attachments:

• HEC Events - Privacy Statement - Sept 2021.pdf